The
Ballad of the East and West
Oh, East is East, and West is West,
and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the
ends of the earth!
Kamal is out with twenty men to raise the Border-side,
And he has lifted the Colonel's mare that is the Colonel's pride:
He has lifted her out of the stable-door between the dawn and the
day,
And turned the calkins upon her feet, and ridden her far away.
Then up and spoke the Colonel's son that led a troop of the
Guides:
"Is there never a man of all my men can say where Kamal
hides?"
Then up and spoke Mahommed Khan, the son of the Ressaldar:
"If ye know the track of the morning-mist, ye know where his
pickets are.
At dusk he harries the Abazai -- at dawn he is into Bonair,
But he must go by Fort Bukloh to his own place to fare,
So if ye gallop to Fort Bukloh as fast as a bird can fly,
By the favour of God ye may cut him off ere he win to the Tongue
of Jagai.
But if he be past the Tongue of Jagai, right swiftly turn ye
then,
For the length and the breadth of that grisly plain is sown with
Kamal's men.
There is rock to the left, and rock to the right, and low lean
thorn between,
And ye may hear a breech-bolt snick where never a man is
seen."
The Colonel's son has taken a horse, and a raw rough dun was he,
With the mouth of a bell and the heart of Hell
and the head of the gallows-tree.
The Colonel's son to the Fort has won, they bid him stay to eat
--
Who rides at the tail of a Border thief, he sits not long at his
meat.
He's up and away from Fort Bukloh as fast as he can fly,
Till he was aware of his father's mare in the gut of the Tongue
of Jagai,
Till he was aware of his father's mare with Kamal upon her back,
And when he could spy the white of her eye, he made the pistol
crack.
He has fired once, he has fired twice, but the whistling ball
went wide.
"Ye shoot like a soldier," Kamal said. "Show now
if ye can ride."
It's up and over the Tongue of Jagai, as blown dustdevils go,
The dun he fled like a stag of ten, but the mare like a barren
doe.
The dun he leaned against the bit and slugged his head above,
But the red mare played with the snaffle-bars, as a maiden plays
with a glove.
There was rock to the left and rock to the right, and low lean
thorn between,
And thrice he heard a breech-bolt snick tho' never a man was
seen.
They have ridden the low moon out of the sky, their hoofs drum up
the dawn,
The dun he went like a wounded bull, but the mare like a
new-roused fawn.
The dun he fell at a water-course -- in a woful heap fell he,
And Kamal has turned the red mare back, and pulled the rider
free.
He has knocked the pistol out of his hand -- small room was there
to strive,
"'Twas only by favour of mine," quoth he, "ye rode
so long alive:
There was not a rock for twenty mile, there was not a clump of
tree,
But covered a man of my own men with his rifle cocked on his
knee.
If I had raised my bridle-hand, as I have held it low,
The little jackals that flee so fast were feasting all in a row:
If I had bowed my head on my breast, as I have held it high,
The kite that whistles above us now were gorged till she could
not fly."
Lightly answered the Colonel's son: "Do good to bird and
beast,
But count who come for the broken meats before thou makest a
feast.
If there should follow a thousand swords to carry my bones away,
Belike the price of a jackal's meal were more than a thief could
pay.
They will feed their horse on the standing crop,
their men on the garnered grain,
The thatch of the byres will serve their fires when all the
cattle are slain.
But if thou thinkest the price be fair, -- thy brethren wait to
sup,
The hound is kin to the jackal-spawn, -- howl, dog, and call them
up!
And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and
stack,
Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way
back!"
Kamal has gripped him by the hand and set him upon his feet.
"No talk shall be of dogs," said he, "when wolf
and gray wolf meet.
May I eat dirt if thou hast hurt of me in deed or breath;
What dam of lances brought thee forth to jest at the dawn with
Death?"
Lightly answered the Colonel's son: "I hold by the blood of
my clan:
Take up the mare for my father's gift -- by God, she has carried
a man!"
The red mare ran to the Colonel's son, and nuzzled against his
breast;
"We be two strong men," said Kamal then, "but she
loveth the younger best.
So she shall go with a lifter's dower, my turquoise-studded rein,
My broidered saddle and saddle-cloth, and silver stirrups
twain."
The Colonel's son a pistol drew and held it muzzle-end,
"Ye have taken the one from a foe," said he;
"will ye take the mate from a friend?"
"A gift for a gift," said Kamal straight; "a limb
for the risk of a limb.
Thy father has sent his son to me, I'll send my son to him!"
With that he whistled his only son, that dropped from a
mountain-crest --
He trod the ling like a buck in spring, and he looked like a
lance in rest.
"Now here is thy master," Kamal said, "who leads a
troop of the Guides,
And thou must ride at his left side as shield on shoulder rides.
Till Death or I cut loose the tie, at camp and board and bed,
Thy life is his -- thy fate it is to guard him with thy head.
So, thou must eat the White Queen's meat, and all her foes are
thine,
And thou must harry thy father's hold for the peace of the
Border-line,
And thou must make a trooper tough and hack thy way to power --
Belike they will raise thee to Ressaldar when I am hanged in
Peshawur."
They have looked each other between the eyes, and there they
found no fault,
They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on leavened
bread and salt:
They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on fire and
fresh-cut sod,
On the hilt and the haft of the Khyber knife, and the Wondrous
Names of God.
The Colonel's son he rides the mare and Kamal's boy the dun,
And two have come back to Fort Bukloh where there went forth but
one.
And when they drew to the Quarter-Guard, full twenty swords flew
clear --
There was not a man but carried his feud with the blood of the
mountaineer.
"Ha' done! ha' done!" said the Colonel's son.
"Put up the steel at your sides!
Last night ye had struck at a Border thief --
to-night 'tis a man of the Guides!"
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and
never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the
ends of the earth!